Speaking of the protest movement, Senior White House Advisor, and head of President Obama’s re-election campaign, David Plouffe recently told Washington Post reporters, “We intend to make it one of the central elements of the campaign next year.”

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking of Occupy Wall Street, said, “The American people do not think the system is fair or on the level.”

President Obama himself has said of the movement, “I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country … and yet you’re still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place…”

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, still recovering from a recent surgery, recently addressed the demonstrators via Venezuela State TV. In response to President Chavez’s message, crowds at the New York protests erupted with cheers of joy, raising a giant hammer and sickle in victory. President Chavez said, “This movement of popular outrage is expanding to 10 cities and the repression is horrible, I don’t know how many are in prison now.”

As the movement gains momentum, it is attracting celebrity activists. Kanye West , Michael Moore, Roseanne Barr, Tim Robbins, and Al Sharpton were among those who took time out to visit with protesters in Zucotti Park.

As the president continues his bus tour of North Carolina and Virgina, he is subject to criticism about his credibility on the issue of Wall Street. “The president is vacuuming money out of Wall Street,” said North Carolina GOP chairman Robin Hayes. Hayes made reference to the president’s campaign fund-raising machine which continues to receive millions of dollars from financial firms.

Virginia GOP chairman Pat Mullins added, “You’ve got to wonder why any leader of the free world would condone this kind of thing or even encourage it,” he said, noting that protesters continued to clash with New York policemen daily.